Reducing Poverty Through Ecotourism - Children Change Colombia

Reducing Poverty Through Ecotourism in Magdalena

On Earth Day, we celebrate every action towards making our world a happier, healthier place to live. Children Change Colombia recognizes the importance of choosing to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and most importantly to educate the youth towards respecting the environment and involving them in eco-friendly processes within their communities in Colombia. After establishing a partnership with Misión Gaia – an organization that develops socio-environmental programs to increase the well-being of local communities and to protect the nature of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia – we’re very excited to announce the launch of our latest project on eco-tourism livelihoods, called “Development Youth: Vocational Training for Sustainable Tourism”.

Vocational training in ecotourism

Alongside Misión Gaia, we seek to provide access to needs-oriented vocational education and training in areas related to sustainable tourism to one hundred young people living in the Villages of Minca, La Tagua and Vista Nieves who are particularly affected by poverty.

We’re delighted to be starting the project in May 2022. As per CCC’s objectives, our main focus is the children and the young people of Colombia. This project envisions the improvement of the quality of life for young people so they can earn their livelihood as self-employed persons or employees in the tourism industry and significantly improve both their situation and their families. Given the requirements to entry jobs in the tourism industry, this sector provides accessible opportunities for jobs and allows the empowerment, mobility, and self-sufficiency of groups of society including women, youth and immigrants.